Blanc

Pinot Blanc
Los Carneros
2016

Tasting Notes

This wine captures summer in a bottle and can bring a sunny reminiscence to any season. Aromas of fresh white flowers, honeydew melon and green plantain carry into the first taste, where they are joined by green strawberry, tart golden apple and Meyer lemon. As the wine opens in the glass, secondary flavors of chamomile tea and white pepper/cardamom develop and lend themselves to a sleek, briny minerality and a fresh, long-lasting finish. Not just a seafood lover’s companion, this wine will bring joy to many dishes from cockles to chicken to cheese… and don’t forget your veggies!

Point of View

We have a serious vinous issue - white wines have been getting the short shrift ever since red wine was declared (in a widely circulated article linking moderate red wine consumption to heart health) a potential antioxidant health elixir. Almost overnight, people who didn’t drink wine at all started taking their dose of one glass of red wine a day - and a large part of the wine drinking population switched to red wine with a new prescription for guilt-free imbibing.

Pleasure leads to good health. It reduces stress. The anxiety and stress generated by self sacrifice in the name of health can be self-defeating and could nullify any health benefits a red wine might offer. Let’s say I chose to drink red wine with oysters regardless of how they taste together just because red is considered healthier than a crisp white wine. I’d be sacrificing the pleasure that comes from the magical synergy of wine and food. Instead of a joyful beverage, it becomes medicine.

I can honestly say - I love red wine! Some of my most memorable pairings have been with reds (say an aged Pinot Noir with a truffled roast chicken) yet many of my most comfortable and enjoyable wine and food experiences have been with white wine. My talented chef/wife, Maria, seduced me with her Tart Flambé paired with Pinot Gris. We celebrated one of my birthdays with Choucroute Garnie and a plethora of wines from Alsace that included Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Muscat. We have enjoyed many a dinner with Chenin Blanc, Muscadet, Chablis and the queen of all white wine, white Burgundy. We often celebrate New Year’s Eve with the most decadent, noble Champagnes and white wines we can find paired with caviar, oysters and delicately smoked fish. I can’t imagine a red wine improving any of these scenarios.

Then there is the cheese course… since it comes out late in the meal, most people serve it with the same red wine they were enjoying with the main course. I’ll let you in on my little trick. I try to save some white wine from earlier in the dinner for the cheese course. Nine times out of ten, I prefer it to red. Something about the way the acidity cuts through and compliments the fattiness of the cheese as well as how the floral and mineral qualities of the wines contrast so well with fromage funk.

I like to embrace change and diversity by enjoying wines of all types, but pigment-challenged wines need a cheerleader. Give Blanc wine a chance. Discover the pleasure it brings when enjoyed beyond the appetizer. It deserves respect… and a place at the table.

Party On

Cheese and ham are my all-time favorite, ready-to-eat foods. You can take them to the highest of highs – think subtle, aged farmstead sheep’s milk cheese and thinly sliced Iberico ham or the lowest of lows – think American cheese slice and everyday deli ham and still end up with a pretty tasty combo that’s egalitarian and always ready for a party.

So is Blanc! Blanc was made to party and lives in the land of food fun. Enjoy Blanc with a plethora of cheeses and sliced meats, seafood, chicken, grilled pork ribs and a variety of marinated and grilled vegetables. It always shines its brightest at the table. So bake up a batch of pinwheels, grab a bottle and party on.

I have a soft spot for Pinot Blanc. It is the underdog of the oenological world. Rarely is it given prime real estate, usually planted off to the side, that place where the soil isn’t very good, in the swale - or anywhere there is plantable land that couldn’t be better served by a more “noble” grape. Many times it is over-cropped to produce a reliable, if indistinct, quaffing wine. It does not get the respect it deserves. That is not the case at RSV.

RSV gives Pinot Blanc prime real estate in three organically-farmed, Carneros vineyards: OSR Vineyard and the Three Amigos Vineyard in Napa as well as the Scintilla Sonoma Vineyard. These three vineyards are influenced by the cool Carneros macro-climate with nuances from the specific micro-climates of the individual vineyard sites. These multiple sites allow RSV to blend several wines from the Pinot Blanc grape. RSV makes: Pinot Blanc, Abraxas, and Libration cuvées - where Pinot Blanc plays a supporting role, and now our new “Blanc” that is a very special cuvée of 100% Pinot Blanc. The distinctiveness of each lot of Pinot Blanc was discovered during blending trials, offering the opportunity to create unique wines by playing with the blends. This wine spoke to us and we knew we needed to make a special wine. This might be the only time RSV produces a .750 of Pinot Blanc…